Pastor/Rabbi Jonathan Cahn of Beth Israel Worship Center, Wayne, NJ,
is presently leading a pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
The tour will surely include a dip in the amazing Dead Sea...
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| Photo credit: pinterest.com |
DEAD SEA DIPS—TWO DECADES APART
Israel
Pilgrimages—1986 & 2006
Twenty years
ago—
At midday, I
slipped into
crystal clear
salty sea-water
warm as
bathwater
Saline stung
my freshly
shaved legs
Great salt
pillars
like giant
white mushrooms
rose above the
water
and glistened
in the daylight
Some bathers climbed
upon the pillars
others
floated on their backs
and read a
magazine
as depicted
in advertisements
in glossy travel
mags
The
surprising buoyancy
delighted me
as silky
natural minerals
caressed my
skin—
a luxurious
spa-less spa
treatment
Over-exuberance
caused me
to disregard
caution—
Salt-water
splashed into my eyes
blinding me
until washed
away
with copious
freshwater
This trip—
It’s sunset
Our group
enters the sea
(actually a
big salt lake)
smaller than
it was
twenty years
ago
due to steady
evaporation
This time the
water
is cool and
brown
There are no
salt pillars
to climb
We cautiously
step
into squishy
mud
It oozes
between our toes
and swallows
our feet
like
quicksand
Guarding
against sliding
on slick
slippery stones
we
dip down
and pull up handfuls
of soothing, luxurious
mud
and laugh as
we
slather it
lavishly
over arms,
legs
even our
faces—
thankful for
the cover
of darkness
Later, in the
gift shop
we purchase
packages
of Dead Sea mud
at five dollars
each—
beauty
treatments
for our daughters
back home
Maude Carolan
Pych
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